This invention relates generally to plastic lens compositions and methods and apparatus for making plastic lenses, and in one of its aspects to corrective or plano plastic lenses for use in eyeglasses and the like.
Optical lenses have been produced from the polymer of diethylene glycol bis(allyl)-carbonate (DEG-BAC) by thermal curing techniques. These techniques for polymerizing DEG-BAC to produce an optical lens, however, have several disadvantages and drawbacks. One of the most significant drawbacks is that it takes approximately 12 hours to produce a lens according to this technique and therefore a lens forming mold can produce at most two lenses per day.
Moreover, the thermal curing process employs a thermal catalyst so that the polymerizable mixture of DEG-BAC and catalyst will slowly polymerize even while refrigerated. The polymerizable mixture therefore has a very short shelf life and must be used within a short time or it will harden in its container.
Furthermore, the thermal catalysts utilized in these procedures are quite volatile and dangerous to work with requiring extreme care in handling.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,166,088 discloses the formation of a plastic lens by disposing a lens forming material comprising a liquid monomer and a photosensitive initiator into a mold cavity defined in part between a pair of spaced apart molds each having a lens forming surface facing the cavity and an outer opposed surface, and then directing rays of ultraviolet light against the outer surface of at least one of the molds to act on the lens forming material in the cavity to produce a lens therefrom.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,038,210 and 3,222,432 disclose the heating of a lens forming material in a mold cavity by an external heat source.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,298,005 discloses an apparatus for generating ultraviolet light having a wavelength in the range of 320 to 450 nm for hardening plastics.
The polymer of DEG-BAC exhibits desirable optical and mechanical properties. These include high light transmission, clarity, and index of refraction together with high abrasion and impact resistance. These properties in the past made DEG-BAC one of the leading monomers in the manufacture of high quality lenses, face shields, sun and safety glasses. Other properties of DEG-BAC, however, such as its slow rate of polymerization make it an undesirable monomer in the manufacture of these items.